Korean fried chicken with thin crunchy crackly crusted chicken is hugely coated in sweet spicy Korean-inspired gochujang sauce. The sticky sweet and spicy sauce is so flavorful with complex flavors and comes together in a jiffy.
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Thin crackly crusted, sticky sweet-spicy Korean fried chicken
These are so Moorish, once you start eating, you won’t be able to stop. There is no way to look elegant while eating sticky wings. Pick it up with your hands and just relish it all!
With just a handful of ingredients needed, this is one of the MUST-TRY fried chicken recipes. Thin crackly crust chicken is tossed in a sweet-spicy complex flavored Asian sauce. The sauce is sweet and spicy. Fermented Korean red chili and bean paste aka gochujang is a flavor bomb that gives umaminess to the sauce. The flavor of gochujang is intense and a little goes a long way. It’s readily available in Asian stores. The spiciness of this fermented chili bean paste varies depending on the brand you use.
Did you know?
In and outside Korea this dish goes by the name ‘the other KFC’ – Korean Fried Chicken.
“Yangnyeom chicken” translates to “seasoned chicken”.
Chicken wings and drumsticks are seasoned with fresh ginger and garlic along with salt pepper & rice vinegar. Chicken is then tossed in cornstarch or potato starch. Unlike other fried chicken recipes, you don’t have to rest the chicken in the marinade. Resting until the oil turns hot will do. Fry in oil just until golden brown so the skin is crunchy and crispy but the inside is still juicy.
The signature red fiery sauce in which fried juicy chicken is tossed varies widely. The main ingredient of course is gochujang which is fermented Korean red chili and bean paste. Other sauce ingredients used in this recipe are tomato ketchup, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil.
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken wings with skin (winglets and drumsticks)
- 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic, grated
- ½ teaspoon pepper (adjust to taste)
- Salt (to taste)
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- ¾ cup corn starch or potato starch (add more starch if needed)
- Canola oil for frying (or use vegetable oil)
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons gochujang (fermented Korean red chili and bean paste)
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar (or maple syrup or honey)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons ginger, grated
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
Garnish:
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Green onion
Ingredients additions and substitutions
You can add mirin or rice vinegar to the sauce ingredients. If you like an extra kick feel free to include any hot sauce like sriracha sauce.
For additional savory flavor, ½ teaspoon of Dijon mustard can be added to the sauce.
How to make it
In a bowl place chicken, grated ginger, minced garlic, rice vinegar, salt, pepper, and corn starch. Toss chicken well until coated with cornstarch and set aside.
In a deep pan heat canola or vegetable oil. Heat it until the oil temperature reaches 175C. Start by adding each chicken piece carefully to hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pan. Fry chicken in batches if needed. Fry for 2-5 minutes depending on the side of the chicken, then flip and fry on the other side.
Once the chicken is golden brown remove it on a kitchen towel to drain excess oil. Then transfer crunchy fried chicken to a large wide bowl.
In a small saucepan heat gochujang paste, ketchup, dark brown sugar, ginger, garlic, toasted sesame oil, and soy sauce. Heat the sauce on low heat stirring continuously until it begins to bubble.
Remove sauce from heat. Pour the sauce over the golden crunchy chicken. Toss well to coat chicken in sauce. Adjust the amount of sauce to your liking. Adding just enough sauce to coat the chicken helps keep the crust crunchy a little longer.
Remember there is no way to look elegant while eating sticky wings. Pick it up with your hands, and annihilate the plate of wings, no shame!
Tips to make best Korean fried chicken
- To ensure each chicken piece is coated uniformly in starch, roll each chicken piece in a bowl of starch and set aside.
- To get juicy golden brown chicken, fry them in hot oil at 175C.
- Do not over the crown pan while deep frying, fry them in batches.
- Gochujang sauce used for coating fried chicken will be thick and sticky. As it rests it will thicken more. To get pourable consistency, thin down the sauce with 1 or 2 teaspoons of hot water.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken as soon as it comes out of the stove, so it’s easy to coat over the chicken.
- The crunchy crust will adhere to the chicken while cooking. If fried chicken is left out for longer before adding the sauce, the crunchy coating can fall off the chicken.
FAQS
I prefer Korean fried chicken soon as it’s made for the best taste. Fried chicken if left for a long will begin to turn soggy and the outer crunchy crust can fall off. Also chicken tossed in the sweet-spicy sauce if left for a long will begin to its crispiness and the sauce will make the chicken soggy.
This recipe is built around deep frying chicken for a crunchy crispy golden thin flaky crust. Adapting this recipe to bake will not work, you’ll need an entirely different recipe for it.
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📋Korean Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken wings with skin winglets and drumsticks
- 1 teaspoon ginger minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic grated
- ½ teaspoon pepper adjust to taste
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- ¾ cup cornstarch or potato starch add more starch if needed
- Canola oil for frying or use vegetable oil
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons gochujang fermented Korean red chili and bean paste
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar or maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons ginger grated
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
Garnish:
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Green onion
Instructions
- In a bowl place chicken, grated ginger, minced garlic, rice vinegar, salt, pepper, and corn starch. Toss chicken well until coated with cornstarch and set aside.
- In a deep pan heat canola or vegetable oil. Heat it until the oil temperature reaches 175C. Start by adding each chicken piece carefully to hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pan. Fry chicken in batches if needed. Fry for 2-5 minutes depending on the side of the chicken, then flip and fry on the other side.
- Once the chicken is golden brown remove it on a kitchen towel to drain excess oil. Then transfer crunchy fried chicken to a large wide bowl.
- In a small sauce pan heat gochujang paste, ketchup, dark brown sugar, ginger, garlic, toasted sesame oil, and soy sauce. Heat the sauce on low heat stirring continuously until it begins to bubble.
- Remove sauce from heat. Pour the sauce over the golden crunchy chicken. Toss well to coat chicken in sauce. Adjust the amount of sauce to your liking. Adding just enough sauce to coat the chicken helps keep the crust crunchy a little longer.
Nutrition
Recipe Notes
- To ensure each chicken piece is coated uniformly in starch, roll each chicken piece in a bowl of starch and set aside.
- To get juicy golden brown chicken, fry them in hot oil at 175C.
- Do not over the crown pan while deep frying, fry them in batches.
- Gochujang sauce used for coating fried chicken will be thick and sticky. As it rests it will thicken more. To get pourable consistency, thin down the sauce with 1 or 2 teaspoons of hot water.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken as soon as it comes out of the stove, so it’s easy to coat over the chicken.
- The crunchy crust will adhere to the chicken while cooking. If fried chicken is left out for longer before adding the sauce, the crunchy coating can fall off the chicken.
Created by Jyothi Rajesh
Thank you for stopping by.
Jyothi Rajesh is the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail. She lives in Bangalore, India and is the mom of two beautiful kids. Her passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. She’s been blogging since 2007 and many of her recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.
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